Prosecution versus Defence
by stanaxbanana
Summary: AU. Arrested for a crime he didn't commit, Rick Castle is in trouble. Even more so when no one believes he's innocent. With the evidence stacked against him and time running out, can Kate Beckett save him before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

"You want another?" The barman asked as Rick placed his third empty glass back on the bar.

"Sure," Rick sighed in response. He was drowning his sorrows - they were nine days into January and this was already the worst year ever, he was pretty sure there was no way it could suck anymore and there were still roughly 356 days to go. "Thanks," he muttered as the bartender placed another double scotch in front of him. It was close to hitting 9pm and he'd touched back down in New York a few hours ago after a few days in LA. He had rushed home from the airport to see his favourite little redhead - Alexis had stayed with his mother whilst he had been away. And then after taking in his appearance, his mother had insisted he go out and get a drink once his daughter was tucked up in bed.

So that was how he had come to find himself alone in a dingy little bar in lower Manhattan, drinking scotch and mourning his loss. He might feel like someone close to him had died but right now he was thinking this was worse - the source of his pain was very much alive and kicking; she was just doing it with another man.

The reason he had flown out to LA for a few days was for Meredith - the woman he thought he would be with for the rest of the life, the mother of his child - to sign the divorce papers that had recently come through. He could have had her sign them and ship them back over to him but he knew Meredith, he needed to see for himself that she was actually going to sign them and agree to his conditions.

It had been almost two months since that day, the one that had changed his life forever. Alexis had been a kindergarten, probably happily playing with her friends and teaching them all new words - his daughter was exceptionally bright for her age, he liked to think she had inherited that from him, he read to her every night that he was home and she loved books, just like he did. He'd been in back to back meetings for his newest novel, a day full of his publishers waffling on about things he was pretty sure he didn't need to be present for. Eventually it had ended, an hour or two earlier than he had predicted so that was a plus. Alexis had a play-date after school that day with Paige, her best friend, and was staying for her dinner so he didn't need to collect her until later. He had made his way back to the loft, thinking of surprising Meredith if she was home - he vaguely recalled her mentioning rehearsals for a new project she had going on - and cooking them up a late lunch/early dinner before their daughter was home.

What he hadn't counted on was finding his wife in his bed, clothes strewn across his living room, fucking her director.

It was a good thing Alexis hadn't been home at the time - there was no way Rick would have wanted her to witness the screaming match that followed his discovery. Meredith, in typical Meredith fashion, had tried to make it _his_ fault. Blamed it on him never being there, being out all day every day at book meetings, or locked up in his office writing, or - and this was his favourite one - spending time with Alexis. The bitch had blamed her infidelity on him spending too much time with their daughter and not enough with her. She was incredibly selfish - Rick had been aware of that for a while - but he never in a million years imagined she'd stoop so low as to drag their daughter into the fact that she was having an affair.

He had thrown her out that afternoon, before Alexis had got home, tossing her stuff out into the hallway and stating that Alexis was staying here with him. He didn't know where Meredith was going to go, and he didn't particularly care, but he'd be damned if she took their little girl with her too. Not that she seemed to have thought about that, Meredith didn't even _mention_ Alexis as she gathered up her things - leaving him he could understand, but their precious little girl? She wasn't even going to fight for her daughter? He had seen her in a whole new light that day.

So that had been almost two months ago and Meredith had quickly moved across the country, moving into a beachside apartment with her director. She hadn't seen Alexis once in that time. God, she made him so fucking angry. But the divorce papers had been signed now, he would hand deliver them to his lawyer first thing in the morning, along with the papers Meredith had signed - without even a word - granting him sole custody of their daughter. He wouldn't deny her visitation - not that she had shown any interest in that as of yet - but if she did want to visit, then he'd allow it, but he was keeping Alexis, she'd agreed to that.

He finished up yet another drink and was considering paying the tab and heading home to probably drink some more when the seat next to him at the bar was suddenly taken. Glancing to his right, he spotted a young woman - quite possibly not 21 yet but she didn't seem fussed about being old enough to drink. She ordered a whisky - straight - and the barman didn't even bat an eyelid; apparently this establishment wasn't hot on checking ID. As the woman lifted her head to mutter a word of thanks for her drink, Rick noted there was no way she was legal. What he could tell was that she was stressed and upset - eyes red and puffy like she'd been crying. Her dark hair was shoved up into messy bun on top of her head and Rick wasn't sure whether it was how much he'd had to drink or how vulnerable she looked, but he couldn't help but note how beautiful she was.

He watched her drink for a moment, hoping she didn't turn her head and find him staring at her. "Can I buy you a drink?" He asked as she finished her first.

She turned to him, seeming to notice that he was there for the first time since she'd come in. "Sure," she shrugged. "But I'm not sleeping with you." She had learnt that it was best to be straight up when guys offered to buy her a drink - gave them an opportunity to backtrack if sex was all they were after.

Rick couldn't help but laugh at that. "Great. Well, now that we've cleared that up - same again?" Did buying alcohol for a minor constitute a crime? He didn't really fancy being arrested.. But the woman nodded her agreement and he ordered with the bartender. "I'm Rick, by the way."

"I know," she replied with a hint of a grin on her lips. He frowned at her, seemingly confused. "I know who you are," she explained. "I've read your books." Really, if it had been any other day than today then she would have been freaking out a little that she had stumbled into a bar that her favourite author was drinking in too, never mind the fact that he was buying her a drink.

"Oh, really?" She didn't seem like his typical fans, they tended to be..well, older.

"Mm," she murmured. "My mom likes - _liked_ them." He noticed her correction but didn't press, he figured that had something to do with why she was currently in this bar drowning her own sorrows but he wasn't one to judge. Not today. "And uh..yeah, they're pretty good." She wasn't about to admit that she had read them all, more than once.

"Thanks," he grinned, sliding her drink over to her. "Now do you have a name or..?"

She rolled her eyes. Was her name really important? It's not like they were ever going to see each other again after this drink. But then, she knew who he was - it wasn't like he was a crazy murderer who would stalk her before chopping her into pieces. "It's Kate," she admitted. "Kate Beckett."

Kate. That was a pretty name. He could see a strikingly hot model, high cheekbones and legs going on for miles in his next book. He'd call her Kate.

"Well, Kate," he smiled. "Let's raise a toast," he picked up his glass and she followed suit. "To accepting what's happened and moving on."

She bumped her glass alongside his and took a sip. Perhaps she'd be okay. She'd managed a year, after all. A whole year alone - she could do this. She couldn't help but grin to herself at how excited her mother would be at her little Katie in a bar, drinking with her favourite author. Perhaps it was fate.

Rick respected her earlier statement and didn't even attempt to take her home or get her to go home with him. She had said she wasn't sleeping with him and he was fine with that - he wanted to see her again though. "Can I get your number?" He asked and she smirked at him. "I'm not trying to get into your pants, I promise," he laughed. "But this is the most fun I've had in the past couple of months, I'd like to see you again. Perhaps we can do coffee next time?"

Oh what the hell. "Okay fine," she relented, scribbling her cell phone number onto a napkin and handing it over to him. "But only because I really love coffee."

He'd hailed her a cab before finding one for himself - he wanted to make sure she was at least on her way home and not standing out on the street. Her cab had driven off in the opposite direction to his, and he clutched the napkin tightly in his hand, wondering how soon he could call her. He wasn't necessarily looking for anything from her - hell, his divorce papers had only been signed today. But he meant what he'd said to her, talking to her this evening had been fun and he'd like to see her again, even just to hang out and talk over coffee.

He paid the cabbie and strolled into the lobby of his apartment block, feeling lighter than he had in weeks. It wasn't until he was halfway to the elevator that he noticed the abundance of cops, all of whom turned as they clocked him.

"Richard Castle?" One of the uniforms asked and Rick nodded. What was going on? "You're under arrest for the murder of Meredith Castle."

"The _what_?" He shouted as the officer cuffed him and read him his rights. "What the hell is going on?" Meredith was dead? And they thought he did it?

"Come with me, please." The officer led him to a waiting patrol car that he had missed as he'd made his way back into the building, too busy wrapped up in thoughts of the woman he had met that night.

"Is anyone going to explain to me what's going on?" He asked angrily, both of the officers in the car ignoring him. "Officer...Epsosito?" He leaned forward enough to be able to see the name tag of the officer who had arrested him.

"We're taking you down to the station, Mr Castle. We'll book you in and then you can have your lawyer, if you want. We'll allow you a phone call when you arrive, too." He had read somewhere that the guy had a daughter. Despite being a suspected murderer, they would at least allow him a call to arrange for someone to watch the kid. She hadn't done anything wrong, after all.

Rick settled back as well as he could with his wrists cuffed behind his back. This had to be a misunderstanding, he hadn't killed Meredith - hell, she had been alive twelve hours ago when he'd last seen her!

It was nearing midnight by the time they arrived down at the 12th Precinct, Officer Esposito and his partner guiding Rick into the building and up the elevator to the correct floor. This was all ridiculous, it must be a simple mistake..he was pretty sure Meredith wasn't dead and he was damn sure he hadn't killed her.

"You wanna make a call?" Esposito asked him, showing him perhaps more kindness than they did to most of their suspects.

"Please," Rick muttered as the other officer unlocked the handcuffs. Rick took the phone being offered to him and made a call to his home number, praying his mother hadn't gone to bed yet and would answer.

"Hello? Richard?"

"Mother," he replied on a sigh. "Oh god, I'm so glad you answered. Look-"

"Richard, there are police officers tearing this place apart! What's going on?!"

Shit. He hadn't thought about that. Being innocent tended not to make you think of what they usually did to a guilty suspect. He groaned. "Mother, I got home and was arrested straight away, before I could come up. They're saying Meredith is dead - and they think I killed her!"

"But..but you just saw her!" His mother exclaimed. "No, this is obviously a big misunderstanding. Alexis is still asleep - I won't let them go into her room, that's not fair. They can look in the morning if they really want to, when she's at school. Call your lawyer, darling, and we'll get this sorted!"

He thanked his mother for looking out for Alexis and hung up the phone. "Can I call my lawyer?" Esposito nodded and Rick thanked him before making the call. His lawyer - Jeffrey - wasn't too pleased at being woken up at midnight, but soon recovered once he heard what was going on. Rick double checked where they were with Esposito, before reeling off the address to Jeffrey, who promised to be there within half an hour.

Once his lawyer had arrived - Rick had refused to say anything without him present - the questioning began. Hours and hours of interrogation. The same questions asked over and over again, all with the same answers. Rick had questions of his own but it seemed no one was interested in anything he had to ask, they just wanted answers. He hadn't even had the chance to get over the shock of Meredith being dead. If he hadn't been shown the pictures of her lifeless body surrounded in blood, he wouldn't have believed it. He had a cop questioning him, but due to Meredith being killed in California, the FBI were called in due to the crossing of state lines. The cop was alright, but Agent Sorenson he wasn't a fan of.

They had tracked his flight details, noting that he had only been in LA for 48 hours, leading him to explain the reason for his visit. And then it was when had he last seen Meredith, how had things been between them, did they argue? Followed by why were they getting a divorce?

"Well," Castle snapped, losing his patience. It was 2am, he wanted to cooperate, he really did, but he needed them to see the mistake they were making. "I guess the major factor was that I got home to find her screwing her director in my bed."

"Funny you should mention her director," Sorensen replied, pulling out another picture from his file. "You see, he was found murdered in the next room to your wife."

Rick was in too much shock to correct Sorensen of his mistake - the papers had been signed, Meredith was his ex wife. Not that that mattered now. "I didn't do this," he whispered, stomach rolling at the pictures. It hadn't been a simple shooting or stabbing, this was messy and planned and horrifying. Both bodies had been attacked with a force he could never commit. Not because he wasn't able - he was a big guy - but simply because he could never do that to a person. He wouldn't lie, he despised Meredith, but he hadn't wanted her dead. Alexis was going through enough as it was with her mother moving to the other side of the country on two hours notice, and now he had to tell his little girl that she was never going to see her mother again?

"This is all a mistake."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm quite excited about this story, I've planned quite a lot out so I'm looking forward to sharing it with you! This is based on a tumblr prompt, but I'm not going to share it yet as I don't want to spoil what's to come! The next chapter will be a continuation of this chapter, and then after that we're probably going to be skipping ahead a bit and the main part of the story will be from there! Reviews would be wonderful, I'd love to know if people are interested in this story :)**


	2. Chapter 2

He was charged two days later. Two counts of first-degree murder, and a count of attempted murder - the doorman of where Meredith had been staying had been attacked too, he was currently in the hospital with some pretty serious injuries but was expected to make a nearly-full recovery. Rick's lawyer needlessly pointed out that if the doorman didn't make it, he'd be looking at three counts of murder instead.

Did that really make a difference at this point? Two life sentences or three? His lawyers said he stood a better chance if the doorman made it - he at least had motive for killing Meredith and Simon, the director, but not the doorman, he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

What no one seemed to think was that Rick was telling the truth and he was innocent. He had the best defence lawyers in the damn city and not one of them seemed to even care that Rick was claiming he hadn't done it. One had even suggested he plead guilty to get a reduced sentence, perhaps life with the chance of patrol in thirty years. They just simply did not want to know, they even repeated to him over and over that if he admitted to them that he was guilty, they would still represent him, he wouldn't have to plead that way.

He knew that. Of course he knew that, he had had enough of his characters - both guilty and innocent - arrested over a variety of crimes they may or may not have committed. He was well aware of attorney-client privilege, he knew he could tell them anything and they'd take it to the grave.

But he hadn't done it. He was innocent, one hundred percent. He repeated his story what felt like a million times; he had flown to LA for Meredith to sign the divorce papers and also the custody papers for Alexis. He had arrived on the Friday afternoon, he'd checked into his hotel and had an early dinner and gone to bed. On Saturday, he'd tried to visit Meredith to find she was out. So he'd spent the day sightseeing alone, wandering along the beach - which was pleasant, even in January. On Saturday evening he had gone back to Meredith's apartment - to find that she still wasn't back. He'd given in then and called her. He had wanted to turn up unannounced so that she didn't have the chance to make excuses and say she was too busy to see him - if he just turned up he'd have more chance of her signing the damn papers.

She'd agreed to meet him for coffee on Sunday morning. So Rick had headed to the coffee shop she had suggested and met her early, got her to sign the papers and then she had walked out. That was the last time he had seen her and so the cops and the FBI told him, she was dead two hours later. Conveniently, time of death was placed around midday - his flight home hadn't been until 3pm, giving him plenty of time to commit the murder and fly home again.

Unfortunately though, whoever had done this had planned way ahead. There was enough evidence placing Rick at the scene, deleted files from his laptop and more DNA than would have been necessary to just get some papers signed meant his lawyers were screwed. They had a few small points they could make in defence but it wasn't looking good. As far as the police were concerned, they had the guy - and that's what the lawyers prosecuting on behalf of Meredith thought too. He had motive and opportunity, the apartment building Meredith lived at had been empty of other residents at the time of the murder - meaning no witnesses could confirm or deny whether or not Rick had been there. And in this instance, it seemed to be a case of guilty until proven innocent. CCTV footage showed him walking into the building and taking the elevator up to the right floor, before emerging an hour later.

Clearly, the footage had been doctored. Whoever was behind all of this had taken the footage from earlier in his trip and changed the time-stamp, making it look as if Rick had visited the building around the time of the murder.

To make matters worse, he was being moved to LA to await trial, they wouldn't let him stay in New York. His lawyers had tried to prepare him but he already knew - California still had the death penalty, and with two counts of first-degree murder and the brutality of the scene - it really wasn't looking good.

He had been allowed half an hour with his daughter before they dragged him away. His precious little five year old had no clue what was going on; he had to sit her down and tell her she was never going to see her mommy again and that daddy was being moved across the country by the police because they believed he had hurt mommy.

His mother was standing by him - she was the only person who seemed to believe that he was innocent. She had been granted temporary custody of Alexis until after the trial, a permanent decision would be made then. Rick was going to make it his priority to make damn sure his little girl was not taken away from anymore family.

A month. He had to wait a whole month in a grotty Los Angeles holding cell before his case went to trial. His lawyers told him the prosecution needed time to gather their evidence - and so did they. With everything stacked against him, his defence needed as much time as they could to build a case to prove Rick was innocent. They didn't have a lot - mainly just that Meredith had signed the papers agreeing to give Rick sole custody of Alexis, meaning he had no reason to murder her, she had given him what he wanted. Other than that, they had character witnesses from people in Rick's life stating that he wasn't a dangerous person, that he wasn't capable of this. He had a five year old daughter and it was clear she was everything to him, why would he ruin both their lives when he was getting custody of her anyway?

After four days of prosecution versus defence, the verdict was in. Rick's lawyers had played their case the best they could, refuted the prosecution to the best of their ability, but now the outcome was in the hands of the twelve people randomly selected to serve jury duty on this case. They had been locked in a room until they had reached their decision and now it was made.

 _Guilty._

On both counts. Also guilty on the third charge, the attack on the doorman.

Three days later, he was back in the courtroom for the sentencing - his lawyers had told him to prepare for the worst, given the horrific nature of the murders and also the files they had found. It looked premeditated and planned, an act of an angry man who went to the very extreme to get revenge.

The judge sentenced him to death.

* * *

After the sentencing, he had been granted permission to move to a prison in New York to serve out the sentence before he was executed. It was closer to his family and the judge had ruled it made no difference where he was, providing it was behind bars.

For the first year, Rick did everything he could to get out of there. He hired the best defence attorneys in the country to get him off - surely one of them had to be able to do something? Many tried - he wasn't exactly short of money, he could pay anything they asked and more. But none of them succeeded, they all looked at the case but decided there was too much evidence against him for them to overturn the decision. No amount of money was going to help him here, he just needed someone to believe him, someone to start from the beginning and actually listen to him - not try and get him off because it was what they got paid to do without caring if he was guilty or not.

He spent every day for three months combing through any file he could find, contacting every defence lawyer in the book, praying that one of them would get back to him and be able to do something no one before had done - prove him innocent.

No one replied.

By the time he'd been inside for five years, he had some light - he and Martha had decided Alexis would be old enough to cope with starting to visit. He had spoken to her on the phone three times a week since he had been locked up, but before he thought she was too young to spend time in a jail - especially one where her father would be monitored on his every move during the visit. But after five years, he decided it was time. Alexis was ten and she was growing up fast. He had come to peace with the fact that he was never going to help her get ready for her senior prom, he wouldn't be there to walk her down the aisle as she got married, and he wouldn't get to see his grandchildren grow up, but he still wanted to see her while he still could and from what his mother had told him during their visits, Alexis wanted to see him too.

After his sentencing, his mother had been granted full and permanent custody of his daughter. Given that Rick was never coming out of prison, the judge had decided that Alexis wasn't at risk with Martha. From what he had heard, Alexis was getting on okay, she had some friends and went to a good school - thanks to the money he had earned when he was still writing. In effect, it was probably the money he was earning afterwards that was keeping Alexis in school - sales of his Derrick Storm novels had skyrocketed after his conviction, his readers apparently wanting to find any details or hints that led him to commit those crimes in real life and not just on paper.

He spent most of his days in the library, it hadn't taken him long to read nearly everything in there, but luckily the people of New York donated used books to the prison regularly, giving him new material to read. Even if it was James Patterson.

Once the prison officers realised he wasn't going to be a dangerous inmate, he was given special privileges - only a handful of prisoners there were deemed safe enough to not be locked in their cells for 22 hours a day.

Rick was a model inmate; he never caused trouble, always stayed away from fights and never got involved with the gangs. A few of the _nicer_ guys in there Rick became sort of friends with, they looked out for each other and spent their leisure time working out outside, or playing the occasional game of basketball.

More recently, he had been given access to a pencil and paper during the day - not just for the purpose of writing letters to his mother and daughter. So he used this new treat to write down ideas for new stories, using the facts from other inmates' real crimes as substance. He had to admit - if these ever got published, they were likely to be a little more realistic than his previous work.

He had been incarcerated for almost ten years when his lawyer paid him an unexpected visit. Once the leads dried up, no new evidence appearing and the press getting bored of the mystery writer turned homicidal maniac angle, his lawyer didn't have much of a reason to visit. Except he was here now.

They'd set a date.

April 7th 2010. That was to be the date of Rick's execution; a little over three months from now. If he was ever going to prove his innocence, he was seriously running out of time.

* * *

"Whole load of mail arrived for you this morning, Beckett." Kate glanced up at the security guard at the entrance to the building she worked at. "Should all be on your desk."

"Thanks, Brian," she smiled, making her way to the elevator and riding it up to the fourth floor. She had taken holiday this morning, deciding to come in after lunch and catch up on a few things before heading out earlier than usual. She had been at the firm for almost four years now, and each January she always reduced her workload around this date. It just made it a little easier, she knew she couldn't be the best if she wasn't completely focused.

She skimmed through her mail, not seeing anything of much interest. Until..she had one letter postmarked 'Attica Correctional Facility' - getting letters from prisoners wasn't uncommon for the firm, but mainly for the defence attorneys who worked in the office. Kate Beckett worked for the prosecution - she very rarely got letters from inmates; they were already locked up, they didn't need her.

The back of the letter was even more interesting; the return address was for the attention of Richard Castle. Her stomach dropped, heart lurching as she read the words. _Richard Castle._

Ten years ago - to the day, actually - she had met her favourite author in a bar. She had been to visit her mother's grave, a year after she had been murdered, and had needed a stiff drink or six afterwards. She had only been twenty at the time, but the particular bar she had gone to wasn't one for checking ID - and when Rick Castle had offered to buy her a drink, she couldn't exactly say no.

She had wondered if he was going to call after pressing enough for her to cave and scribble down her number, but three days later she had seen the news. Arrested - and charged - with the murder of his ex-wife and her new lover. It had shocked her, the man she had met in the bar didn't seem capable of such an horrific attack, but she had followed the case as it progressed to trial and saw when he was sentenced to death. She had actually been in the same state at the time, she had flown back to Stanford a little after he had been arrested to continue with her studies.

Six years later, with an undergraduate degree from Stanford and her J.D from Columbia Law School, she had taken a job as a prosecutor for a local Manhattan firm. Fast forward four years and she was the most successful attorney at the company, she made them - and herself - a lot of money and was extremely sought after.

Kate had considered not going back to school after her mother's death, but in the end she had stuck it out. And now, on the eleventh anniversary of the murder, she hoped her mom was proud of her little Katie following in her parents footsteps. She had decided to pursue her career in the hope of one day being the one who put her mom's killer behind bars.

One of her colleagues had taken Rick Castle's case to defend him, but hadn't been successful. Kate herself had looked over the file a couple of years back and could see why - it was air tight. But still, there was something about it that made her think he was being set up, as Rick had tried to claim.

Opening up the letter, she began to read.

 _Dear Kate,_

 _I'm not sure if you remember me - and if you don't, I'm sure you know who I am, every lawyer in the city has heard of this case at some point, I'm sure._

 _But you and I met 10 years back in a bar. You were upset over something, I didn't press for what, I could sense you didn't want to talk. I had just got back from LA after flying out to get my ex-wife to sign the divorce papers to end our short marriage. You gave me your number and I spent the whole cab ride home wondering how long I had to leave it before I could call and not look desperate - or like a crazy stalker._

 _But I never got the chance to call, upon arriving home I was arrested and I have been in prison ever since, for a crime I didn't commit._

 _So I am writing this letter to you because I need your help. I understand if you don't want anything to do with me, but I'm running out of time and I need to know I've tried everything._

 _So if you can spare me an hour or two - of course I'll make sure you're paid for it - I would really appreciate it if you could come and visit me. We have set visiting hours but I believe you can essentially come whenever if you tell them you're a lawyer - though if I remember you correctly, all you'd need to do is put on a tight dress and any man would be at your mercy._

 _I'm at Attica Correctional Facility in New York and I really would appreciate it if you could find the time to visit me, I really do need your help._

 _Regards,  
_ _Rick Castle._

Kate had no idea what on earth she could help him with, the last she had heard he was serving out the last few months before being executed - what did he need her for? But still, something about his letter had got to her - and it wasn't the part about her in a tight dress. The man knew he didn't have long left and yet he was contacting her, a prosecution attorney? Something about that didn't add up.

She searched the number on the internet before dialling the prison. It seemed after ten years, she was going to come face to face with her favourite author once again.

* * *

 **A/N: I may have taken a few liberties with the American judicial system - after googling, I realised New York doesn't have the death penalty anymore, hence why the murder and trial took place in California, as I think they do. (?). But I'm not sure you could be sentenced to death in California, moved to New York and still be executed but we can pretend, right?!**

 **I know this chapter covered a massive time period, but the main part of the story starts in the next chapter and I thought this background info was pretty important! I'll share the prompt in the next chapter!**

 **Thank you to those of you who reviewed the last chapter, thoughts very welcome on this one too!**


	3. Chapter 3

Rick was nervous. Like really, properly nervous. He hadn't felt like this since..god, since he had been sat in that courtroom for his hearing. His stomach was in knots, sweat was starting to seep through his pores and he felt sick. He had woken up at five this morning - a whole hour earlier than the guards walked around waking them up. Plus he'd hardly slept - his mind hadn't switched off.

It had taken him three years to sleep properly after arriving, constantly scared that his cellmate was going to stab him with a whittled down toothbrush in his sleep. It hadn't helped that the man he had shared a cell with when he first arrived was a serial killer - a known sociopath - and possibly the most feared man at Attica Correctional Facility.

Five years ago, Nelson - his original cellmate - had died of a heart attack, and Rick had someone else move in. Joe Reed. He had been sentenced to life without parole after an armed bank robbery had gone wrong and Joe had killed a young police officer who had attended the scene. He and Rick got on well - Joe had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, he was easily influenced and had gotten in with the wrong crowd after his marriage fell apart, but he was a good guy. Both Rick and Joe were of the lower security kind - which was why they shared a cell, they weren't a danger to each other - or anyone else. They regularly laughed and joked with the guards whilst they were being supervised at breakfast, or in the yard playing sports. It made his time in here just a little better, knowing he had someone who understood, someone to talk to who didn't judge him or automatically assume he was a psychopathic lunatic who murdered for fun.

Joe was laughing at him now. They were in their shared cell - a small box with bunk beds. Being the child he was, Rick was happy to take the top bunk, that was always more fun. They'd made it as homely as they could; both pinning up pictures of loved ones, a stack of books on the dresser in the corner that they shared, a pile of Rick's notes for new novels on the small desk they were allowed in there with them.

"Ricky, man, you need to relax," Joe was grinning, the book he had been reading dropping to the bed so that he could focus on his friend. "You're going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep on! Why don't we go to the library for a bit? You could write some more.." Secretly, Joe wanted more Richard Castle notes to read. He was a fan, he'd known who the author was before the murder case - it had almost been a dream to get to share a cell with him. Rick always let Joe read his notes, got him to help out on technical areas Joe himself had experienced, used him to gain feedback from a readers perspective.

"I can't concentrate enough to write," Rick muttered, not letting up his pacing of the room. He glanced at his watch - he groaned when he realised he still had two hours.

Joe chuckled and picked his book back up.

Rick let out a huff of disgust - the man was reading Michael Connelly for crying out loud.

* * *

Kate was nervous. Like really, properly nervous. Her flight had landed at Buffalo Niagara International Airport at 9am, she'd rented a car and driven her way out to the prison. It was 10.40am now and she was still sitting outside in her rental car. She took a sip of the coffee she had brought just before arriving, hissing slightly as the hot liquid burnt her tongue. Perhaps she'd leave it another 10 minutes before drinking the rest of that.

She had absolutely no idea whatsoever why on earth she was here, why she had told her colleagues that she needed to head upstate for a case she was working on. Well, she hadn't lied completely - she was upstate, and it was technically to do with a case..except it wasn't one she was working on. Kate Beckett wasn't exactly close with the others she worked with, she kept herself to herself and got on with her job; it was one of the reasons she was so good at it, she didn't allow herself any distractions. Her friend Lanie, a medical examiner in the city, said Kate needed to date more, kept offering to set her up with Mr July from the New York Fire Department's annual calendar, or with a Detective who worked in robbery near the precinct she did a lot of work for. Beckett wasn't interested in dating, she didn't see the point if she didn't see a future with them, they would just get in the way and complain when she put her job before them. No, she liked her alone time, the evenings spent in her little apartment, a hot bubble bath and a good book. Richard Castle's book. She had them all..even the ones from the early days, which she had to admit, weren't his best works. She loved nothing more than relaxing with his stories, imagining him reading them to her..

She shook her head to clear her mind. It was getting closer to 11, she needed to move if she didn't want to be late. She stopped at the main entrance, still wondering why she was here. She couldn't quite get her head around the fact that she was visiting her favourite author in prison, ten years after they had met briefly in a bar and he had then been imprisoned for murdering his ex wife and her new boyfriend. Hell, it sounded like something straight out of one of his novels.

"Oh, what the hell," she muttered to herself, strutting confidently through the main doors and up to the reception desk. "Katherine Beckett to see Richard Castle," she announced to the desk agent, waving her visiting order under the woman's nose. She had been doing this job long enough to know that when you went to see a client - particularly one in prison - you asserted yourself immediately. No polite introductions or stammering questions.

The woman behind the desk looked up, seemingly taking in Beckett's appearance, sharp eyes giving her the once over. "Visiting hours don't start until 2pm," she said sternly. "Come back then."

It was the patronising smile that pissed Beckett off but she rolled her eyes; she was used to this. The heels and the tight pants and leather jacket didn't scream 'I'm a lawyer' - she looked more like a trophy wife, come to visit her mobster husband. "Check your list," she pressed, "I think you'll find I have an appointment with Mr Castle at 11." She tried to keep her voice even but she wasn't a fan of being judged by someone who didn't know her from Eve.

"So you do," the woman stated, eyes raking the paperwork. "Here." She tossed Beckett a visitor's badge. "Make sure you return it on your way out. Oh, and you'll have to go through security, it's over there."

Kate took the badge and headed towards where she had been sent. Even her coffee had to go through the security scanners - she wasn't sure it was even allowed in a place like this but she had a feeling the security guard decided Beckett would be more dangerous without caffeine than the actual drink itself.

Eventually she was allowed through and Rick was waiting for her. He'd aged a bit since she'd last seen him; not surprising given what he'd been through in the last ten years, but he still looked good. _God,_ he looked just as good as he had the night they'd met.

"Hello, Rick." She hated how formal her voice sounded. "It's good to see you."

"Hey, Kate." His smile was warm and welcoming and he could see her relax almost immediately as she settled into the seat opposite him. It was a very basic setup, a table with chairs either side - thankfully he wasn't cuffed to the table, he wasn't a high enough risk for that, he wasn't a danger.

"I brought you this," she smirked, the corners of her mouth threatening to twitch up into a full on smile. She slid the second cup of coffee she had brought with her towards him. "I believe you asked me out for coffee ten years ago? Figured this could be our coffee date." She was talking to try and calm herself down - seeing her favourite author in a place like this just didn't seem right.

"And they let you bring me this?" He asked incredulously, taking a sip.

Beckett shrugged. The security guard had spent more time looking at her boobs than worrying about what she was bringing in. "Figured you hadn't had good coffee in a while."

"You're right," he nodded. "This is awesome. Thank you." She was stunning. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous. He had been able to see her beauty the night they had met but now? She was confident and assertive and had put on a little weight since he'd last seen her, in a good way, she'd needed to gain a few pounds.

Beckett simply smiled; it was only coffee and the guy was acting like she'd saved his life. _Oh..  
_

 _S_ he couldn't wait any longer, they'd got the pleasantries out the way and now she needed answers. "Why am I here?"

"I need your help." She wasn't beating around the bush so he wouldn't either. "I don't know how much you know about my case?"

"Enough." Truthfully she knew it all, but she didn't want him knowing how much she had read into him.

"I didn't do it. And I'm sure you've heard that from a million defendants over the years but I didn't do it. I swear on my daughters life."

Okay, now she was listening. "Go on."

"I was setup, I don't know by who but I know I didn't do it. And I need your help." He took a deep breath, it had been a few days but it was still hard for him to talk about what was coming. "They've set a date for my execution - April 7th, it's not long."

"Look, Rick..if you didn't do it then I'm sorry for what you've been through but I don't know how I can help? This isn't my job, I don't represent defendants." She put people accused of crimes just like him behind bars.

"I know. And trust me, I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't desperate. But I have tried every damn defence attorney I can find in this city, and I've written letters to a million more who never replied, but none of them could prove that I didn't do it." She was watching him patiently and he was grateful for that. He knew how far she had come and a little part of him couldn't help but think that she must have at least wanted to see him if she had come all this way.

"When I came across your name..god it took me by surprise. The sad little girl I had met in that bar all those years ago was a lawyer?" He hadn't believed it was her at first, he'd trawled through newspapers for days before stumbling across a picture of her and that was when he had known - this was fate. "Can I ask you something?" He asked, curiosity getting the better of him. "Were you over 21 when I met you that night?"

"No," she laughed. "I was 20 at the time, I didn't turn 21 until the November."

"I knew it!" He cast his mind back, remembering how sad she had been that night. "Am I allowed to ask why a 20 year old girl in New York was drinking by herself?"

She contemplated his question for a moment; her mother's murder wasn't something she told many people about. "I'll tell you what, Rick. You convince me that you're innocent and I'll tell you why I was in the bar that night." She had no idea what she was getting herself into but one drink with the guy ten years ago and she was ready to believe nearly anything he damn well said.

That was good enough for him for now, she wasn't running away screaming, she was willing to give him the chance. "I can't believe you came all this way to see me."

"You asked me to come, Rick?" She was confused, he had written to her hadn't he?

"I know but I didn't think you'd come. I was grasping at straws and this isn't even what you do. But I was hoping and praying that you'd remember that night we met so long ago and that it would pay off and...you're my last chance, Kate. If you can't help me prove that I'm innocent then I'm a dead man. Time is running out. My daughter is gonna lose her dad before she even hits eighteen. Ten years have been ripped away from me watching her grow up, I've had to rely on visits twice a month and a few phone calls a week. I can't let them execute me, I didn't do anything wrong."

Kate was torn. The man could have picked up a hundred tricks in the years that he had been inside, he'd know how to play her like a fiddle if he wanted to. She'd be willing to bet everything she owned that he'd be able to beat a lie detector by now, he spent day in day out with some of the most dangerous criminals - he may even be one himself. It was the little voice inside her head that was getting to her, the one that told her to buy those new pair of heels despite the fact she had fifty pairs at home. The voice that told her calories didn't count on the weekend and that she _really_ needed a two hundred dollar pair of jeans. It was that voice that was telling her to trust him, to believe him. To do her best to get him out of this shithole and back to his daughter.

She knew what it was like to lose a parent, and she wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy. But was Rick Castle innocent or was he just playing to her weaknesses?

* * *

 **A/N: thank you to those of you who have reviewed so far, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Lots of you have followed the story - thank you - but I'm not getting much of a response. Obviously you don't have to review if you don't want to but please know that it really does help and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this fic so far!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, super busy week this week, no time to write! Thank you so so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I really appreciate it and I'm glad you're enjoying the story!**

* * *

The silence between them stretched over a good ten minutes. Neither of them spoke, Kate was lost in her own thoughts; she didn't even seem to acknowledge that she had company. It was an extremely difficult decision and she wasn't sure she could make it right this second, she needed more time. There was something about his spiel that made her believe him instantly but countless defence attorneys, some of the best in the country, had tried to get him off - all to no avail. That was what was holding her back from agreeing to help. She loved a challenge, loved proving the majority wrong and showing that she could achieve anything she put her mind to but was this a step too far?

"Can I think about it?" She asked, eventually breaking the silence.

"Sure," Rick agreed quickly. "I know how much I'm asking of you, I wouldn't expect you to make a decision right away."

Kate bit back a remark about how he could have told her that half an hour ago, and she wouldn't have been sat there struggling to make her mind up.

"Just don't leave it too long," he added. "You know, we are on a deadline here."

Kate's eyes widened at his comment before realising he was smirking. "Very funny," she muttered, standing up to leave. "I believe if you add me to your list of approved visitors I can make appointments on quite short notice?"

Rick nodded; he had been in here long enough to know how the system worked. He told the guards he wanted her on the list, she called up with no less than two hours notice to say she was coming in and they'd allow it, providing she brought along the correct credentials. It was his mother and daughter that had it tougher; their visits needed to be booked two weeks in advance.

"Brilliant. Okay, well I'm going to go and think about it..I'll call and arrange an appointment once I've made my decision." She gathered up her coffee cup, tossing it into the trashcan in the corner of the room. "Uh..either way." She added. She at least deserved to tell him to his face if she wasn't going to help.

"Thank you," Rick told her, standing up to shake her hand and motioning for a guard to come in and let Kate out. "And I really do appreciate you coming all this way to see me..I'll see you soon."

Kate simply smiled as she left the room, heading back out towards the main entrance. She remembered to toss her visitor's badge back to the woman at the front desk before escaping to her car.

She had gone crazy. She must have lost her mind because right now she was sitting behind the wheel of her rental car seriously contemplating taking on this case. Kate couldn't even explain to herself why she was thinking about doing it, so she had no idea what she was going to say to everyone else. She needed a reason, a good and solid reason to back up her decision. Katherine Beckett was an extremely accomplished and successful attorney, there was no way she was ruining her career without being damn sure that this was going to pay off.

Kate pulled up Rick's visitors list on her phone. She had looked over the files before she'd left to see him and had sent a few copies of documents over to her email address. As if he'd planned it, the backup reason Kate had been looking for was there - his mother and daughter were visiting tomorrow, and she was hoping they would fly up early and not leave it until the day of the visit.

Scrolling through her contacts in her phonebook, she found who she was looking for and made the call. "Hey," she said when the call was answered. "I need a favour."

"One day I'm going to turn around and say no, you know," Detective Esposito joked. "Starting to think you only call me when you want something."

Kate rolled her eyes. "The Yankees tickets can stop really easily you know.." she shot back. She had worked a case a few years back that involved a pretty high up guy in the Yankees management - and as a thank you for getting the criminal put away, he had promised her tickets for home games whenever she wanted them. She didn't go as much as she liked these days, she was often too busy with work but they were a good dealbreaker when it came to getting information from Esposito - and occasionally his partner, Ryan, when she needed it.

She had met Espo a few years back, just after he had made detective at the 12th Precinct. She had been working a homicide case and he had been the detective in charge, and they'd become fast friends. He was always happy to help her out when she needed him, and Ryan was a good friend of hers too. It almost made her wish she'd gone down the cop route instead of becoming a lawyer - she didn't have the kind of friendships with anyone at her firm as she did with Espo and Ryan. She even got on well with Montgomery, the captain of their precinct.

"Empty threats, Beckett," Espo said, reverting to the name he always used for her - he said it was a cop thing. "Anyway, what can I do for you this time?"

"Can you pull flight records for me? Out of LaGuardia to Buffalo, check reservations under a.." she checked her notes, "Martha Rogers?" That was the name of Rick's mother and she was on the list to come and visit, along with his daughter, tomorrow. She just had to hope they were flying in today.

"Alright, give me a sec," Esposito grumbled and Kate could hear him typing at his computer. "You gonna tell me why I'm checking flight manifests without good reason?"

"Nope." It was how it went between them; Kate rarely told him _why_ he was pulling favours for her, she just used the Yankees tickets to keep him sweet. Though she was sure Montgomery knew what went down, he just turned a blind eye in the name of justice. Maybe she should offer tickets to the captain next time..

"Right," Esposito said as the search results came back. "A Martha Rogers is scheduled to fly out of LaGuardia in ten minutes. Lands at Buffalo at 1430 local time."

Kate let out a sigh of relief - her hunch had been right, Ms Rogers wasn't going to drag a fifteen year old upstate and back again in the same day. "Great, thanks Espo."

"No worries. Hey, it says here that Martha Rogers is travelling with an Alexis Castle. She wouldn't have anything to do with that author you like, would she?"

"Bye, Espo." Kate hung up the phone with a slight chuckle, she wasn't going to give too much away just yet, she had some things she needed to sort out first.

* * *

Late afternoon found Kate in a small coffee shop not far from her hotel, a grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla syrup steaming on the table in front of her. She had checked into her hotel after leaving the prison, knowing full well she wasn't going to do the round trip in one day. She had the hotel booked for the night, she would fly back to the city tomorrow.

After pulling up the records from Rick's case, she had found a cell number for his mother and had called to arrange a meeting once she and Alexis had landed. Martha had sounded surprised at first but then she became eager for the meeting - leading Kate to believe that at least his family thought Rick was innocent. She couldn't decide if that helped her or not.

She was disturbed from her thoughts by the sound of the door, and other than the fact that nobody else seemed to be waiting for anyone to arrive, Kate knew that this was who she was waiting for. Martha Rogers was an elegant older women - and there was no way her hair was naturally still that colour. However it matched in colour to the young girl accompanying her, who was clearly Alexis Castle - Rick's fifteen year old daughter.

Kate waved at the pair and they soon spotted her, taking seats in the armchairs on the other side of the table. "Hi," Kate said. "I'm Kate Beckett, we spoke on the phone?" Martha nodded. "Thank you so much for agreeing to meet me, I know this can't be easy for you."

"Anything to help, dear," Martha replied warmly. "You said you might be able to help when we spoke earlier?" Kate smiled at the woman. She wasn't completely sure yet that she could help, but after ten years, she knew the only way of getting Martha to agree to meet would be with the promise at a chance of some good news.

"Well I was hoping the two of you could help me make that decision. Would you like a drink? Then we can talk about why I've dragged you out here."

"Oh that would be lovely, Kate, thank you," Martha said.

"Have you seen my dad?" Alexis asked a few minutes later when Kate returned with the drinks.

"I have," Kate nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. "I saw him this morning." Alexis nodded. Kate sensed that the girl was a little angry that she had to book visits weeks in advance ands Kate could just waltz in whenever she felt like it. "I'm sure he's looking forward to seeing you tomorrow."

"May I ask why you were visiting my son?" Martha asked.

"Of course," Kate smiled. "Rick wrote to me a few days ago and asked me to come and visit. We uh..met briefly, ten years ago." She left out the fact that it was the night he had been arrested. "Rick stumbled across my name somehow and remembered me, and saw that I was a lawyer now."

"No offence, but my dad has seen a hundred lawyers," Alexis said. "Why does he want to see you?"

"To be honest, I had no idea," Kate replied truthfully. "I work for the prosecution, not the defence, and I was a little confused as to why your father thought I could help. But I went to see him today and he explained his.. _situation._ " Alexis dropped her head and Martha coughed, Kate knew this wasn't going to be an easy topic for them. "I haven't actually committed to helping him just yet," she continued. "It's not something that can be decided easily. So that's why I wanted to meet with the two of you, to gain your perspective on what happened."

"He didn't do it," Alexis said confidently. "I know I was only a kid at the time and don't really know what he was like but he didn't do it, I know that much. My dad is amazing, even being where he is now he's still managing to be an excellent father."

"That's true," Martha agreed, almost sadly. "Richard may not be there in person but he does everything he can to be a good father to his little girl. And I agree with my granddaughter, Kate - Richard did not do it."

Kate smiled - the two hadn't even hesitated when she had asked, instantly jumping to Rick's defence and standing by him.

"My son is a good man," Martha continued. "Now, I'm not one to speak ill of the dead, but-"

"My mom cheated on him," Alexis cut in. "That's why they got divorced and that's why my dad was in California at the time."

Martha patted Alexis' hand. "Yes. Now I'm not saying Meredith deserved what she got, but she hurt my son and I will never forgive her for that. All we can be thankful for is that she and Richard gave us Alexis. My son would never do something so...heinous. It's just not in his nature. I raised the boy - alone - and I know he wouldn't hurt a fly."

Kate contemplated what they had told her for a moment. It all pointed to Rick being innocent - she just couldn't work out why no one had been able to prove that Rick hadn't done what he had been accused of in ten years. She had to be missing something..

"Is there anyone you think who could have done this? And maybe framed Rick for it?"

"Wait," Alexis said. "Does this mean you think my dad is innocent?"

Now wasn't that the million dollar question. All of the evidence gathered in the case pointed towards Rick being guilty. But all of Kate's evidence said the opposite; from Rick dragging her all the way up here to protest his innocence, to his mother and daughter claiming he hadn't done it.

"Yes, Alexis," she answered eventually. "I believe your father is innocent." She just hoped she wouldn't live to regret that decision.

* * *

For the second time in as many days, Kate found herself in the parking lot of Attica Correctional Facility. Truthfully, she had made her decision the previous evening, but had wanted to sleep on it to be sure, so she had called the prison and arranged to come back in this morning, giving her time to make sure she was doing the right thing. After meeting with Martha and Alexis, she had spent the evening with Chinese takeout in her hotel room, mulling over the papers she had brought with her.

Rick was waiting for her again when she was led into the meeting room, he had obviously been informed of her visit and had been moved in preparation. "Morning, Kate," he smiled as she sat down opposite him. "Thank you for coming back."

"I said I would, didn't I?" Kate grinned.

He grinned at her and she had to ignore the fluttering in her stomach. "So, I'm assuming you've made a decision?" Rick sighed, preparing himself for the worst.

"I have," Kate nodded. "I was still torn when I left you yesterday, but I met with your mother and daughter and they helped me."

"You met Alexis?"

"I did," Kate confirmed. "She's a great kid." The young girl kind of reminded Kate of herself in a way, Kate had kind of lost both parents too. She and Alexis had both lost their mothers due to murder and then essentially both lost their fathers too. Jim was better now, he had become a more regular occurrence in Kate's life, but she still remembered how it had been when she was all alone. "I met with them to see what they thought of me helping you and they convinced me of my decision."

"And?" Rick pressed, eager to know what she had settled on.

"I might have completely lost all sense of normalcy and I'm pretty sure I'm now certifiably insane..but I'll help you, Rick. I'll see what I can do to get you out of here."

"I..you..seriously?" He asked incredulously, not seeming to believe her.

"Yup," Kate replied, wondering what on earth she had just gotten herself into. "I'm not promising anything because I don't know what I can do but I'll give it a shot."

"I..thank you, Kate," he breathed out. "I don't know how to thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," she laughed. It could still all go terribly wrong.

"I will pay you whatever you ask," he told her eagerly. "I mean it-"

"Ah, and there is my condition," she interrupted. "I'm doing this pro-bono."

"Um..thank you, I think?" He said, frowning slightly. "But uh..why? It's not like I can't pay?"

Kate sighed. "Because I don't know if I can do this. This isn't my job, I don't get paid to get people off, I get paid to put them in places like this. So I won't accept your money, I can't." She had figured that out last night, knowing that if she was going to take on this case, she wouldn't be able to accept a penny from him, knew it would help make this whole ordeal easier if she knew she wasn't taking his money for it. "I've hardly taken a day's leave since I started, I am well overdue some time off. I'll need to head back to the city for a few days and get things in order, but then I can come back up here and stay while we figure out what we're going to do."

Rick was in shock. Not only was she going to help him, she was going to do it without being paid? Jeez this woman was a mystery. He had told himself over and over that she might not be able to help him, that she didn't normally do this but his hope was rising again now, visions of himself wandering free around the streets of Manhattan, watching his daughter as she headed off to school...and hopefully having Kate Beckett over to his loft.

"Okay," he nodded, agreeing with her for now. "I get that." Not that he wouldn't try and pay her back in some way anyway. "And thank you."

Kate simply nodded, taking a deep breath. She was going to have her work cut out for her here and she'd need all the help she could get.

* * *

 **A/N: I'll try and get another chapter up in the next few days. Reviews are welcome on this chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Oh, look who it is," Javier Esposito grinned as a woman made her way towards him. "What're you doing in this part of town, girl? Take a wrong turning?" Espo knew she lived in a quirky apartment in Lower Manhattan, she didn't often venture over to their neck of the woods.

"Beckett!" Ryan greeted brightly. He was always friendlier on approach than his partner, but Kate knew Espo was only joking with her, they had that kind of sibling relationship. Ryan was like their puppy.

"Morning, guys," she smiled. "I was hoping to run into you here." She was glad they hadn't been out on a case when she had decided to drop by. "Listen, I need a favour. Is there somewhere we can all talk?"

"Oh, so you're coming down here in person to ask for favours now are you?" Espo teased and Kate rolled her eyes. "C'mon," he said, "we can head in here." He led Kate and Ryan into a small room off of the main office. It was cosy and had a couple of couches on either side of a coffee table.

"Is everything okay, Beckett?" Ryan asked. He knew Espo had made a joke about Beckett coming in to ask for something but this never happened - whatever she needed to talk about must be pretty serious.

"I'm taking on a new..case," Beckett announced, taking a seat. "And it's not a normal case, in fact it's anything but, and the thing is I'm going to need your help." The boys remained silent so she continued. "The case I'm taking on..it's kinda the opposite of what I normally do, in fact."

"Beckett," Espo sighed. "In case you weren't aware, we do actually have work to do. Spit it out, would you?"

"Sorry." She had been working up the courage to tell them what she was going to be doing, but she decided now she was just going to have to spit it out and get it over with. "I'm going to try and prove Richard Castle innocent." She didn't need to tell them anymore than that, every cop in the country knew the Castle case.

"You're _what_?" Espo half growled. "The man killed his wife! And you're going to get him off?" Kate blanched at Esposito's anger; she hadn't been expecting that. "I met him that night, did you know that?" Espo continued and Kate shook her head - that was news to her. "Yeah, I was a uniform back then, on night duty and we were assigned to head over to his apartment and pick him up for murder." Espo took a deep breath. "I arrested him. I put the cuffs on him and led him away from his apartment block, to rot in jail where he belonged."

Kate took in the new information she had been told. Esposito had never told her that story and from the look on his partner's face, Ryan didn't know either. "I met him that night too," she admitted. "I was in a bar and he was there too. I know I'm not a cop but we do the same thing, day after day I work on cases with real criminals and I know what one looks like. Richard Castle is not guilty, and I think if you met him again now, you'd think the same."

Before Esposito could argue back, Montgomery entered the room to see where his detectives had got to. "Ah, Miss Beckett," he smiiled warmly. "Lovely to see you again. What brings you over this way?"

"Just looking for some help on my new case, Captain," Kate replied. "I was explaining it to Ryan and Esposito here just before you came in. I apologise for taking them away from their work."

The Captain chuckled. "Anything for you, Beckett. As long as it doesn't interfere with ongoing cases then you know I'm cool with it. What is your new case, may I ask? Anything interesting?"

"She's going to get Richard freaking Castle out of jail," Espo spat, storming out of the room and back to the bullpen.

Montgomery raised an eyebrow at Kate. "I uh.." she sighed. "That's the plan, anyway," she huffed. "I met with him recently and agreed to take on the case." Ryan muttered something about going to check on his partner, leaving Kate and Montgomery to talk. "I came in today to talk with the boys, I'm gonna need a lot of help on this one and I was hoping to convince them to get on board.." She was realising now that it was going to be easier said than done, especially after Javi's reaction.

"Richard Castle, eh?" Montgomery mused. "I remember that case. Guy killed his cheating wife and her new lover, if I remember correctly?"

"Allegedly," Beckett muttered.

The Captain studied her for a moment. He remembered the case well, it was open and shut as far as he - and the prosecutors - knew. Something pretty major must have happened for Beckett to believe the man. "Not your normal style, Beckett," he said eventually. "Don't you normally put people behind bars?"

"Call it gut instinct."

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day Katherine Beckett was using her gut to decide on a case," Montgomery laughed. "If you believe him then so do I. And don't worry about Esposito, he can be a little hot headed but he'll come around." Montgomery smiled at Kate once more before leaving the room and heading back to his office.

Kate was almost at the elevator when she heard her name being called. She turned around to see Espo jogging up to her, Ryan hot on his heels. "Look, Beckett," Esposito said. "Do you really think this guy is innocent?"

"Yeah, Javi," she answered quickly. "I do." Espo looked torn. "Look," she continued. "I'm not asking you to believe in him, I'm asking you to believe in me. You know me, you know I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't as sure as I could be." Kate didn't cut corners to get a conviction, she didn't spend her career putting innocent people in prison simply because it paid better or it looked better for her prosecution rate. She was one of the best attorneys in the city and she had got there by doing a good job - she believed in Rick Castle and she was going to prove that he was innocent.

"Alright," Espo nodded. "We'll help." He looked at Ryan who nodded too. "Call us with anything you need, okay?"

"Thank you so much!" Kate half-squealed. She needed them and she knew it, having them on board was a massive relief. "I've gotta go, but I'll call soon. Thank you." If she thought convincing the boys to help her was tough, she knew her next challenge would be even worse - her best friend.

* * *

"Hey Lanie," Kate announced brightly as she arrived in the morgue.

Lanie jumped almost a foot in the air, dropping the scalpel she had in her hand. "Jesus Christ, girl," she said, placing a hand over her chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," Kate shrugged, not sounding apologetic in the slightest.

Lanie eyed her friend suspiciously. "Why are you in such a good mood, anyway?"

"No reason," Kate smiled. Truth be told, the fact that Ryan and Espo - along with Montgomery - had agreed to help in the case had improved her day considerably. "Just thought I'd pop by and see how my favourite M.E is going."

"I'm the only M.E you're friends with," Lanie retorted, eyes narrowing. "I know that look. You want something."

"I..what? No!" Kate denied, not meeting Lanie's eyes.

"Nah uh, I don't believe you. So come on, spit it out. What do you need me to do now?"

"Look over the files from the Meredith Castle case?" She asked sheepishly, deciding honesty was the best policy. Lanie did have training in how to use a varying array of sharp objects after all.

"Meredith Castle?" Lanie replied, frowning slightly. "As in the wife of Richard Castle? Or, as he's also known, your favourite author?"

"Uh yeah, that's the one.."

"Katherine Beckett I swear to God you'd better tell me what you're up to right this second or I am going to-"

"Okay, okay!" Kate interrupted before she could find out what body part Lanie would threaten this time. "Let's sit." The pair moved to the small table in the corner of the room, each taking a seat. "I got a letter a couple of weeks back," she explained. "It was from Rick Castle, asking me to go and visit him because he needed my help." Lanie already knew about Kate meeting him in the bar ten years back, she didn't need to go over that again. "He saw my name and recognised it and realised I was a lawyer now. So I flew up to Attica to see him."

"You did _what_?!"

Kate was realising now that perhaps she should have told Lanie of her trip before she actually went. "Uh yeah, " she continued. "I visited him and he asked me to help. He got the date for his execution and it's in a little over ten weeks."

"And you're going to help him?" Lanie asked incredulously. She had no idea what was going on right now.

"I am," Kate confirmed. "Don't ask me why because to be honest I don't really know. But I met with his family, his mother and daughter, and after all this time they still believe he's innocent. And so do I."

Lanie digested the new information for a moment. Secretly, she was kind of glad that Kate was getting involved in this. Despite the fact that everyone thought the guy was a crazy murderer, she knew it would be good for Kate to have a bigger challenge to focus on. She was so damn good at her job that prosecuting criminals was almost easy for her now, this would be a challenge and, if it paid off, an extremely rewarding one.

"Okay," Lanie said eventually, nodding her head. "So that's why you want me to look over the files?"

"Well, I can't get a court order to exhume the bodies without the press finding out and I don't really want them knowing until we have something concrete. I can get Ryan and Esposito to copy the files and have them sent over to you..I just want to see if there's _anything_ that could point to Rick being innocent, something that was missed the first time around." That was partly why Kate had been to visit the boys first, she knew she'd need them to get most of the files she needed without everyone in her office knowing what she was up to.

"Alright," Lanie agreed. "The files won't be as good as the bodies but I understand why I can't have those, I'll see what I can do." Kate beamed at her. "Look, sweetie..are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Not in the slightest," Kate admitted. "But I believe him, and so does his family. I'm not going to stand back and watch whilst an innocent man gets his life cut short."

"Okay well I'm here if you need me," Lanie reassured. "Get those boys of yours to send over the files and Kate? You better keep me updated."

"Of course," Kate smiled. "Thanks, Lanie."

* * *

She had her passport and her plane ticket tucked safely into her handbag, her flight was in three hours so she had plenty of time and the hotel was booked. She took a deep breath, calming herself..she really had no idea what she was getting into but she wasn't going to back down now.

Kate had been to see her boss after leaving the M.E's office, asking to speak with her in private. Kate got on well with Maria, the woman she had worked for since starting at the firm. She had explained everything, from the letter to flying up to visit Rick and the meeting with his family. Kate had then gone on to bring up the fact that she was way overdue some leave, and she was taking it now, effective immediately. Her boss had been a little surprised but had recovered quickly - after working with Kate for so many years, Maria knew Kate wouldn't be doing this if she didn't truly believe she could.

Maria had surprised her even further by agreeing for Kate to charge the hotel she was going to need to the company account, stating that Kate had made them enough money over the years to warrant taking some back for herself. Not to mention the good publicity they were going to get if Kate managed to pull this off.

Kate had taken a month of leave, knowing she could extend it if she needed to do so, but her plan was to have enough evidence to present to a judge by the end of that month. So, she glanced around her apartment once more before locking up and wheeling her suitcase down the hallway.

She had a plane to catch. And more importantly, an innocent life to save.

* * *

 **A/N: sorry again for the slow update, I have no idea where the days are going at the moment! My shifts at work are better next week so fingers crossed I can update sooner! Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, thoughts welcome on this one too!**


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